Blog Comments & Posts

Hey gang, I’m John from URL
First, huge thanks to Rand for the post and warm compliments… I’m humbled by the fact that I have a friend like you in the industry.
Second, thanks to everyone for this mindshare –by hammering our site or commentary on this thread you have all given constructive critique and support we need to learn and grow.
Third, I though I’d share thoughts that may spark more discussion:
1)WITH MANY. Be there no doubt – we think Google, Yahoo!, MSN each offer phenomenal results… its just that we think it’s uncomfortable to trust just one search engine, to go it alone, and not share and learn each others’ past experience. Finally, we think a collaborative, supportive, even social search experience can provide enough of a differentiated user experience to bring people onboard for searches where they care.
2)SPAM. Boy, if there's a crowd that knows this... it's here. Spam WILL happen, but the benefits may far outweigh the risks... even in the short term. Today the risk is mitigated b/c results must first pass Y/G/M’s filters before hitting our results. Long run, we think collaborative filtering and more careful technology will keep much of the abuse at bay.. even moreso than on the search sites themselves.
3)COMMUNITY. Despite the super-techy url, we’re much more focused on the people. I've seen “search apathy” (reluctance to change search engine) first hand and know how hard it will be for us to build this community. We’re not totally sure what to do once the viral growth tapers… perhaps url.com belongs as part of a bigger, existing community? Would LOVE your input here!
Thanks again Rand and team… keep searching with many, and contact me anytime at
john (at) clipclip.org